The area Gu Yuan and the others had passed through looked as if bandits had raided a village; not only were the Evil Creatures killed, but they were also stripped completely clean.
The Evil Creature in this area resembled a "bear," but it had now been dismembered beyond recognition, and even the evil Qi on its body had been taken away.
There were also messy dirt piles dug up nearby. Who knew what treasures had been here before... "All these things... should have been mine!"
Lin Tian felt flames churning in his chest, but he did not show it, only muttering to himself internally.
After all, not long ago, Lin Tian had just obtained a First-Tier Earth Dao Evil Creature heart. If any more spoils were gained, they should rightfully belong to Wu Ze or Li Shubo.
"Let's continue..."
Lin Tian led the group forward for a few more minutes until they finally saw the resting crowd.
However, Gu Yuan was not among the people resting.
"Where is he?"
Lin Tian scanned the area. This group... seemed to have suffered no casualties. Even those few cripples with broken limbs were still present, lying on stretchers.
Upon closer inspection, the two support poles of the stretcher showed signs of Spiritual Power flowing through them.
These guys actually used precious Materials as stretchers!
"Hey, it's Lin Tian..."
"Why are they here?"
"I remember he seemed to have collapsed over there just now. Look, his front tooth is missing."
Listening to the Students' chatter, Lin Tian felt his recently calmed mood immediately become agitated again.
Wu Ze, standing nearby, looked at the crowd with a forced smile. "Where is Gu Yuan?"
"Senior Student Gu Yuan is scouting ahead."
"Scouting ahead?"
"Yeah, speaking of which, this money was really worth it. It's like we're on an outing."
"Tell me about it. Look, even I got a piece of bear hide. I wonder what I can make out of it later."
"What are you planning to make? It's not even enough for a scarf. You might as well make a sock!"
Looking at the various Materials the Students were playing with in their hands—all these items had Spiritual Power fluctuations and counted as Magic Treasure Materials!
"You, how could you!"
"Haha, Senior Student Gu Yuan distributed these to us. He said that shared joy is better than solitary joy, and instead of keeping all the benefits to himself, he should share some with us."
"He seemed to say this was a small bonus or something. Giving out these bank notes was so worth it!"
A single First-Tier Material could exchange for at least one Spirit Stone in the black market.
And if one Spirit Stone were exchanged for bank notes, it could fetch at least a thousand notes!
The few women following Lin Tian couldn't help but regret their choice, momentarily doubting if this was real.
Lin Tian felt that this Gu Yuan was highly unusual.
First, he defeated him in one blow. Then, he led everyone to find a way out, and furthermore, he divided the spoils among the crowd.
All these actions indicated that this person wanted to accumulate goodwill!
It was at this moment that Lin Tian truly re-examined "Gu Yuan."
He held a Sharp Weapon, yet he didn't kill.
He clearly could have robbed them outright, yet he relied on collecting protection fees and subsequently gave away many items to the crowd.
He balanced kindness and authority, neither arrogant nor impatient.
This person's Heart-Nature was extraordinary, but unfortunately, his humble origins, coupled with his Mixed Spirit Root, limited his potential.
"Gu Yuan... I remember you."
Lin Tian quickly walked ahead, and the Students showed no intention of stopping him.
Lin Tian wanted to see just who this Gu Yuan was and what level he could reach relying solely on his own strength without the help of others!
But as soon as he stepped into the next area, Lin Tian frowned, assaulted by a rich, pungent earthy smell, as dust and sand swirled throughout the entire region.
With visibility extremely low, Lin Tian could only make out a figure in the center of the area... To investigate, Lin Tian had to push himself to charge inward, and only when he struggled his way to the central region could he barely open his eyes.
Feeling the surrounding wind sounds and resistance lessen, it seemed this was the eye of the storm.
And the next moment, Lin Tian saw Gu Yuan fighting the Evil Creature of this place!
Gu Yuan was currently wrapped in a massive amount of evil Qi. His dark, shimmering cloak, accentuated by layers of black mist, made him look like a "demon."
Gu Yuan, from head to toe, seemed completely unharmed, save for a bit of dust.
Meanwhile, the core of the First-Tier Evil Creature fighting Gu Yuan had already been extracted, and it was gradually dissolving and collapsing.
"A combination of Sand Dao and Wind Dao, a style derived from the Earth Dao..."
Gu Yuan was holding the relatively intact core, muttering to himself.
When Lin Tian finally saw clearly what the pile of sand on the ground was, he couldn't help but widen his eyes.
"This is... a Sand-Stirring Beast?"
"Hm, good eye."
"Doesn't this thing lack a physical body? Unless you can find its core, otherwise..."
"Hmph, I found it."
Gu Yuan smiled and waved the core in his hand. "You just need to pollute its body. Then the sand it can utilize will become less and less. And the part that is always protected by clean sand must necessarily be where the core is located, right?"
"You relied on this method? Did you think of it on the spot?"
Lin Tian found it unbelievable. The academy had never taught anything about an Evil Creature like the Sand-Stirring Beast, yet Gu Yuan was able to find a solution so quickly.
One must know that the reason for the frequent heavy casualties among Cultivators in the Death Prison was ultimately the lack of information.
Evil Creatures often possessed advantages far surpassing ordinary Cultivators. If one didn't understand the mechanisms of the Evil Creature, conquering it usually required significant casualties.
But Gu Yuan... he reached this point entirely on his own.
He didn't even have a single injury on his body, making Lin Tian feel as if he hadn't woken up yet.
But the next moment, Gu Yuan suddenly approached rapidly. Lin Tian was startled by the sudden movement and tried to draw his weapon, but Gu Yuan was faster, arriving in front of Lin Tian in just a breath's time.
That strange weapon seemed even more hideous now. The lower half, which was previously a normal blade, had now been completely replaced with unknown Materials.
"Don't move, unless you don't want this hand anymore."
"Ugh!"
Lin Tian stared intensely at Gu Yuan. "What do you want to do!"
"Me?"
Gu Yuan sneered. "You're asking me? Why don't you first explain what right you have to stand here when you didn't pay the protection fee?"
"I just..."
"Hey, hey, hey, don't rush to explain. You only have two options."
"One, take people's money and eliminate their worries: honestly pay some money and then follow behind the team."
"Two, leave something behind, and I'll let you skulk away. If you dare approach next time, I'll kill you."
Gu Yuan spoke expressionlessly. Lin Tian had no doubt that if his next words displeased Gu Yuan, Gu Yuan would likely swing his blade at him immediately!
This lunatic!
If looks could kill, Gu Yuan would have been sliced into ten thousand pieces already.
As the direct descendant of the Lin family, when had Lin Tian ever suffered such humiliation?
But a wise man knows better than to suffer immediate losses; the sensible person is the hero!
As long as he could leave alive, with the help of the Lin family, he could quickly open his Dantian and embark on the path of cultivation.
Lin Tian appeared exceptionally calm and sober at this moment.
"You want money, right? I'll give it all to you."
Having said that, Lin Tian took all the bank notes from his storage ring and handed them to Gu Yuan.
But Gu Yuan showed no intention of taking them. Instead, he continued to squint and smile at Lin Tian, a gaze that made Lin Tian's hair stand on end.
"Young Master Lin Tian, I collect fees based on the person."
As soon as these words were spoken, Lin Tian felt a chill in his heart.
"Gu Yuan, I advise you to leave a path for retreat. Since you recognize me, you surely don't want to be unable to survive in Wuxin City, do you!"
Gu Yuan continued to smile. This attitude made Lin Tian unable to figure out what this person truly wanted.
"Heh heh, such a big appetite! Aren't you afraid of biting off more than you can chew!"
Saying this, Lin Tian once again took out two First-Tier Materials from his storage ring.
One was a small pouch containing ash dust, a dual-attribute Material of Earth Dao and Fire Dao extracted from a First-Tier Ash Beast.
The other was Pale Light Powder, considered an Earth Dao Material that emitted a faint glow. It did not contain Light Dao, and the faint light was not only useless for Light Dao Magic Treasures but also attracted the attention of Evil Creatures.
These two Materials... must have been acquired earlier in this Death Prison, and giving them up was a huge loss for Lin Tian.
He had originally planned to rely on these two Materials to show off in front of others, but now they had all been seized.
Gu Yuan continued moving forward by himself, pressing on ahead.
Gu Yuan remembered the topography of the entire academy dungeon. Of course, this topography was information he had soul-searched from others' memories in his previous life.
Whether it was accurate, Gu Yuan wasn't entirely sure.
But so far, the intelligence had not been wrong. Whether it was the Sand-Stirring Beast just now or the Earthen Brick Stone Statue before, Gu Yuan knew their weaknesses and abilities clearly.
In terms of terrain, almost every Death Prison was similar, consisting of one area connecting to the next, with thick earthen walls or other barriers separating the regions.
Without special methods, one could not know in advance what was in the next area.
If the information was completely accurate... then there would be two Second-Tier Evil Objects in the final collective evacuation zone!
With his current ability, he absolutely could not deal with that kind of monster.
Therefore... Gu Yuan chose not to go to the final collective evacuation zone.
The gains from this trip had already made Gu Yuan very satisfied. Not only did he acquire a large amount of Materials, but he also recovered his previous losses.
Once he returned, he only needed to meditate and cultivate steadily. It would take about half a year to perfectly open his Dantian, step into the First Tier, and become a true Cultivator!
As for the people following behind him... Gu Yuan sneered internally. Whether they lived or died, what did it have to do with him?
He would stabilize them first with some useless little trash, and once he found the single-person exit, he would simply shake off and abandon these guys.
From beginning to end, Gu Yuan never intended to take everyone with him when he left.
After all, he had already saved Shangguan Changqing, and the scope of the Death Prison was enormous. Even if the Cultivators surrounded the entire Death Prison.
Gu Yuan was confident he could sneak out. Even without the academy's support, Gu Yuan was still confident in completing Qi Refining.